list-lover

I´ve always loved neat. Keeping neat notes. Making lists. Organizing thoughts on paper. Organizing life on paper.


So it isn´t that surprising that at age eleven I had a list of what to do every morning:
7:00 - wake up
7:02 - wash face
7:06 - get dressed
7:14 - brush hair
7:17 - eat breakfast
7:31 - brush teeth
7:34 - pack bag
7:40 - leave for school
...I´m not kidding it was that detailed. And I kept schedule.


I am a perfectionist, not only when it comes to time-keeping. So much so that I got sick of myself at one stage and enjoyed learning to be spontaneous and messy and careless about timekeeping.
...Tried anyway.


Cause the other day I made another morning list ;)


-Praise God
-Short yoga routine
-Give the day to God
-Shower & get dressed
-Eat breakfast
-Bible and "ask God" time


See I´ve been struggling with sleep lately, and one of my friends was like "you need routine that makes you relax". And so I thought: I should make spending time with God routine, cause I´ve noticed that the times I do, the day is so much better. Things are put in perspective, I´m calmer, and more aware of his presence.


So if you´re a list-lover like me - I recommend a morning list which includes God :)

life un-photoshopped

I was having a coffee with my good friend IK yesterday, and we started talking about blogs. She was saying how it´s so easy to create a superficial, perfect-life-appearance on the net... Bloggers tend to photoshop their lives. We all want to look as good as possible.

So, as a protest, my blog this time is gonna be honest about the not so perfectness of my life at the moment!

Last night I read a chapter in Joni Eareckson Tada´s 31 days toward intimacy with God. It was about looking people in the eyes. She writes about an experience from her childhood when she stole her mum´s diary, and later at the dinner table couldn´t look her mum in the eyes cause of guilt. "Looking one another straight in the eyes has always been a test of truthfulness", she concludes, and goes on to quote God:

"If my people, who are called by my name,

will humble themselves and pray

and seek my face

and turn from their wicked ways,

then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin

and will heal their land."

I´ve noticed that in my own life. It´s hard to focus on God, "seek his face", when I´m struggling with my own pride in some way or another...

Without being too revealing, I can say that these days I´ve been struggling with letting go of something and giving it to God. It´s like I don´t trust him; that if I give him this I´ll lose out. But I know that´s just stupid, he´s proven to me so many times that he knows what´s best for me and he does lead me to what´s best when I just let him.

Why is it such a struggle to surrender my will to his?!

Ellen Miles at the moment reminds me of the Israelites when God led them out of their slavery in Egypt. He sent all those plagues so that Pharao would send them off, and parted the sea, led them by a cloud in the day and by a fire in the night, fed them in the desert by sending food like rain... I mean, I´d be convinced by less. Yet they turned against him, complained, doubted....
It´s easy to point the finger.
And then realise I´m just like them.

So yeah, that´s my struggle at the moment. Just so you know. I´m not perfect, none of us are.
God is, and I´m trying to believe that by trusting him with my life.
Wondering if I´ll ever get there.
But I choose to trust that he´ll finish the good work he´s started in me. (Fil 1:6)
And though I´m faithless at times, he is faithful always. He´ll stick to his word. (2.Tim 2:13)

Have a blessed advent!

JOY =D

What do we say?
We watch
We look on
We see
But what do we do?
Stand by and say “bless you”?
“May God who is our hope help you”?
And yet we are not willing to walk out
To step through the mud
Through the stench
Through the muck
And reach that child
She sits there
Patient
Wide-eyed
Begging
For love

Don’t touch!
You can’t hug her
She’s dirty
You dunno where she’s been
Where she’s come from
Or even what she is
I mean
She may have lice
Leave her where she is
She probably has aids
And look,
You’re wearing a nice white shirt
Keep it clean
Besides she may steal your pen
Don’t go
It’s a trick
There’s probably someone behind it

And so
We turn away
We forget
We go and find some food
Talk about something else
Laugh loudly about yesterday
Plan for tomorrow
Turn our backs

Meanwhile she sits there
And watches
Through the eyes of a child
As the ones Jesus sent
Look elsewhere
And walk away.


This was written by a friend I made on my trip to China, Mongolia and Tibet two summers ago... She is truly an inspiration, a role model in following Christ whole heartedly; listening for his guidance and being obedient, knowing he is always faithful and will provide for her every need.

We´re not called to save the world. We´re not called to be guilty about all those we can´t help. But we are called to be loved by a God whos love is so overwhelming that we can´t contain it, it has to overflow.

A sign of this love is the absence of fear, I was told at a meeting last week at Mosaic. "Perfect love drives out fear". Fear of stepping out of my comfort zone, fear of what people will think of me, fear of the unknown... If I love someone nothing can stop me from being there for them. It´s a JOY to be there for them!

"I´ve told you these things so that you can experience my joy; fullness of joy", Jesus said as he explained what it means to love others; laying down your own life in order to lift someone else up. (John 15, paraphrased.)

Have a good week everyone! And let´s try to look beyond our own busy time schedules and personal interests! :)

JOY

news update...

long time no write! Since my last entry,

• I had Anna and Amy from KBC visit (over new year's), and Janson (also KBC) came for a week not long after.


• I did a concert at the Adventist Church, which went very well. :)


• Billy has died... (At least momentarily.)


• Elisabet and I celebrated Easter by spending Thursday-Sunday reflecting on Jesus' way to the cross through meditation on scripture / prayer / fasting - and we even went out at 6am Sunday to go to a Church service by the sea, in the snow, watching the sunrise. It was beautiful. What God spoke to me about through those days is summed up in one word, trust.


• God's told me to go to China/Mongolia/Tibet for four weeks in June-July, which I'm very excited about!


• I've almost decided who is going to be my producer...


• Will probably study part time after the summer, either psychology or teaching.

And so through the chaos of planning concerts and trips, working and Billy breaking down I am slowly, and I'm afraid quite reluctantly, learning: "in quietness and trust is your strength". Isaiah 30:15

Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas everyone!

And a happy new year :)

I'm living at home with mum and dad and Natalia and Daniel for a couple of days, which is nice. Then on the 27th Anna and Amy, two friends from England, are coming to visit for a week. We're gonna go skating and skiing and snowboarding - action packed holiday coming up - hope we survive.

More updates next year!

Billy

Just remembered I promised to stick in a photo of Billy, my beloved car. This blue car is not Billy, it's Hilde's car - look she has the same steering wheel lock as moi! We found her car in Oslo, how random is that. So we just had to book her.

Bebbe (to the left) has a saying: "kjøss mæ" (kiss me) - and in the randomness of fate, her saying became me and my housemate's common threat to any mean person's words about our innocent car: you dare say a nasty word about the golden golf and you have no choice but to kiss him behind!

Ok, so here's Billy. (As you can see, Solveig sinned - and had to take the consequences of her actions.)

Welcome in!

Here are two videos for those of you who are too far away to visit... Enjoy :)